The 3 essences

Posture, breathing, intention.

A posture, breathing and intention are three essential components of qigong practice.
It is these elements that differentiate qigong practice from simple physical exercise.
Each qigong exercise has its own posture, breathing technique and mental focus.
When you follow them correctly, you will be able to feel the benefits.
However, without the proper posture, breathing and intention, you are not practicing qigong.

Proper posture

Correct physical posture and a good distribution of our weight will prevent tension and injuries, and will allow energy and blood to flow freely throughout the body.
If you stand or sit in an uncomfortable position, it is difficult to concentrate your mind.

Chinese medicine sees pain as the result of a blockage of energy and blood flow, proper posture ensures that the exercises are comfortable and that the practice remains pain-free.

Correct posture regulates the heart and calms the mind, increases qi and blood circulation.
This makes it easier to direct the flow of qi downwards to reduce stress.

Stress, anger and anxiety have an energetic quality of upward movement, which often leads to headaches, tension in the neck and shoulders and even tightness in the jaw.
Qigong helps send energy from the head to the feet, resulting in a more relaxed body and calmer mind.

There is a relaxation sequence that takes place during qigong practice.

First, the muscles relax, followed by the relaxation of the tendons and ligaments, then the nerves and finally the bones.
Qigong practice positions the body in such a way as to maximize the flow of energy to smooth out any blockages that have caused pain or discomfort, while strengthening the body itself.

If you feel pain during any of the exercises, slow down your movements; for example, don’t turn and bend your back too deeply.
Or change your positioning to avoid pain. If there’s pain, there’s no gainthen stop before you feel pain.

When practicing qigong, you can begin to feel the flow of qi through various areas of your body.
Many people experience bodily sensations such as warmth, tingling, vibration or a feeling of fullness.
When the qi flows through your nerves, you can experience an energetic current or electrical wave that runs through the body.

Proper Breathing

As relaxed breathing directly calms the nervous system, the qigong masters attached great importance to breathing.
In fact, breathing is the only direct link to the nervous system.
It is the means by which it can control the fight or flight response of the sympathetic nervous system and activate the parasympathetic nervous system to respond with what has been called the “feeding and reproducing response” and the “resting and digesting response”.

When you are in a state of stress, your breathing becomes faster and shallower and your heart rate accelerates.
Rapid, shallow breathing makes it harder for the lungs to do their job, which is to supply the body with oxygen and remove waste and toxins from the bloodstream.
In addition, when you concentrate your mind too intensely on a specific task (as is normal at work), your muscles begin to contract and tense up, and your breathing becomes restricted.

Deep inhalation increases the flow of lymphatic fluid from other parts of the body into the lymphatic system’s thoracic duct, and exhalation creates a suction effect that increases the veins’ ability to empty the duct; thus, proper breathing helps to keep the body’s extracellular fluids clean and properly circulating.
This, in turn, helps prevent disease.
Deep breathing also lowers blood pressure, massages the abdomen and vital organs.

Qigong breathing, also called diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing, has an immediate calming effect on the nervous system.
By slowing down your breathing, you slow down your mind and relax your muscles, and tensions dissolve.

qigong breathing recharges the body’s energy levels, saturates the blood with extra oxygen, which is one of the fastest and most effective ways to cleanse the bloodstream and energize the body with oxygen.
The more oxygen you breathe in, the more energy the body can produce for a healthy life.

Proper Intention

A proper intention means the active use of imagination, visualization and affirmations during practice.

All three affect and alter the subconscious mind, which in turn reprograms the body.
Intention drives the mind (thought), and the mind drives qi (energy).
We use imagination and visualization to help focus the mind to guide the flow of qi.

By giving the mind a visualization task, the body relaxes more easily and it becomes easier to feel the movements.
Focused intention and visualization calm the emotions, we can use the mind to slow down and deepen the breath, which will calm the emotions and relieve tension and anxiety.

Using intention to guide energy isn’t just about having a positive thought.
Research confirms that focusing the mind on positive images affects a wide variety of

physiological functions, including heart rate, blood pressure, breathing patterns, oxygen consumption, brain wave rhythms, gastrointestinal function, and neurotransmitter levels in the blood and immune system increase considerably.Visualizations help cultivate a sense of mindfulness and being in the present moment, and lead to greater control of emotions and a deeper awareness and sense of inner calm.